Tests
by Tbonechick2011
Summary: When a mysterious British man comes to the office and inquries for Naru, Mai gets wrapped up in the middle of drama between a new case, and is under the careful watch of the Board of Paranormal and Psychic activties. DONE!
1. Weird Visitors

I sighed and rested my chin in my hands as I watched the rain fall and allowed a soft sigh to escape.

It had been a rather boring week at the office with Naru out most of the time. He was still trying to recover from the last time, and Lin was pretty much sitting on top of him about his health. And in all honesty, there was no reason for me to even be here at the office, but Naru wanted somebody to keep it open, ''just in case'.

And of course, when he said that, Martin and Luella had a say in the matter- which is also another reason why Naru wasn't back in the office. His parents got upset when he wanted to return to work straight away, but they managed to talk him out of it.

I think they threatened him, but I don't really want to jump to conclusions.

I let out another sigh again.

"Oh my, I guess it's bad if you feel bad that you don't have to make tea for anyone." I muttered to myself before I got up from the chair next to the window and returned to my desk. "No papers to organize. No case to take on." I muttered as I organized my desk for the fifteenth time that day. "What a shame. Not even homework to do!" By now, I was already graduated from high school, and taking college courses online. I figured it would be the best way to go since I was promoted to full time at S.P.R. I could get my education and do what I love. I chose my major to be psychology in hopes that it would help us understand the spirits a lot better. Naru even made me take extra English classes so I could be even more helpful. Now, English is my second language.

Then the sound of salvation rang and broke the miserable silence. Someone had walked through the door.

"Hello?" A baritone voice asked.

I jumped up from my desk, ecstatic that there was a potential customer to save me from boredom. I regained my composure and approached the front room to greet the customer. As I rounded the corner I stopped short.

The man looked very unfriendly and actually hostile. He was dressed business like, and even held a briefcase tight in his hand. From the taint of his skin, I could automatically tell he was not from Japan, but America or England. A heavy trench coat protected him from the rain and his face was as hard as a rock. I took a step back, surprised at the icy look he shot me. I quickly recomposed myself and offered him a small smile.

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. Unfortunately, my boss is out for the time being, but I can make an appointment for you to meet with him."

"You work with Davis, eh?"

"Yes sir. Can I help you?"

He looked around the office and scoffed.

"A rich kid like that, and he boards himself in a pit like this?"

"He likes a low profile sir." I will admit, my kindness level did drop several levels. I mean, who does he think he is, coming in like this, insulting Naru and my workplace?

His icy glare turned back on to me and he studied my small figure. I instantly felt exposed to his hard stare, but stood my ground.

"And you must be his assistant, Mai Taniyama, right? The one who fought off that spirit in your latest case?"

"If that's what you want to call it, yes, I did. But can I help you with something? If you're here to insult Dr. Davis, I must ask you to leave." I bit my lip, but did not regret my choice of words.

And of course, his hard face grew a bit harder.

"I sincerely hope you do not take that kind of attitude to your customers." He grumbled before he pulled out something from his coat pocket and held it out to me. There was an envelope with Naru's English name on it. "This is for Dr. Davis. Make sure he gets it and remind him that he's only got three days before he contacts. After that, we'll come knocking again."

I took the envelope from his hand cautiously and watched him.

"And what if you do come knocking again?" I asked.

A wicked grin replaced his disgruntled look.

"You'll need to be rethinking your line of work if we come knocking again."

"And who is 'we'?"

The smile only widened.

"Just give him this and he'll know."

I was handed a card with English written on it. When I looked up to say something again, the stranger was already out the door and heading down the steps. Rushing to the kitchen window, I watched as he took on the heavy rain to his ride and I really wished he had missed the curb and busted his butt. However, he managed to get into the waiting cab without a problem. He even glanced back at the office with a smug look.

Narrowing my eyes, I glared in response and watched as the cab sped away. I looked back down to the card in my hand and read it aloud.

"Gregory Renaldo, Associate Board Director of Paranormal and Psychic Occurrences, London England."

And then I had a bad feeling set inside my stomach. I heard the door open and an order called out to me.

"Mai, tea."

I looked down at the little slip of paper in one hand and the envelope in the other.

'_What did he mean when he said he'd call again? What could he possibly do?'_

"Mai?"

"In the kitchen!" I answered back and looked back out of the window to watch the rain fall.

"Did you not hear me call for tea?"

I jumped and turned to face Naru.

"I think we have bigger problems then you missing your tea."

His beautiful face scrunched up a little confused and spotted the envelope and card in my hand.

"What are those? Did a customer come in?"

I shook my head and held the documents out to him quickly, like they were plagued. He slowly retrieved the papers from me and read the name on the card. His expression remained emotionless and he quickly turned to interrogate me.

"When did he come in?"

"Just now. Business suit, insulting, and he told me to tell you that you had three days to get back with them or they would come knocking."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead before he turned to go to his office.

"Mai, make me some tea, please. Then you can have the rest of the day to yourself."

And just like that, he tried to shut me out by making a quick exit to his office. But I was not going to let him get away from me that fast.

"Naru." I called after him and followed him out into the greeting room. He pushed past Lin and ignored my calling. Lin gave me a quick glance and in three strides, he was in front of me.

"What was that about?"

I shrugged.

"A guy had come in to the office and asked me to give Naru a letter. When Naru read it, he instantly shut himself out from me. He even gave me the day off." I answered quickly.

Lin searched my face again and his frown grew even more.

"Did he leave a name?"

I struggled to remember the English name on the card.

"He left a card. His name was on it. I think it was Gregory Renaldo?" The name felt weird on my tongue and I started to wonder if I said it right.

But apparently I did as Lin's eyes flashed with recognition and he slowly nodded his head.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Besides insulting Naru and the office, nothing much really. But he mentioned that he had knowledge from our previous cases."

Lin nodded his head again before he turned to approach Naru.

"Is there anything I can do for him?" I called out to Lin.

"Make him the Earl Grey."

Oh yes, the Earl Grey was brought out in time of desperation, pleading, begging or for sympathy. Today was that day. Not to mention, it was also time to call Luella or Madoka to get more on the scoop and see if they knew anything.

I didn't even wait for Naru's answer when I silently knocked on the door. I slipped in and put the tea cups on his desk as Naru was busy on the phone, presumably talking to Martin. Or at least, that was who I believed he was talking to. Anyways, I decided it wouldn't be best for me to be on the receiving end. From what I could understand in English, the word choice was not beautiful at all and Naru's face was very dark.

"…not ready yet. It's way too soon after everything that's happened." He leaned on his elbows on his desk and looked up at me. He tried to wave me away, but I ignored it as I took a comfortable seat across from him. Glaring at me, Ii knew I was pushing my luck, but I wasn't about to ignore whatever was happening.

He needed me.

Weather he accepted that fact or not was a completely different story.

"You know what? I'll just call back when we have more time to discuss prior arrangements, Dad. Yeah. I'll call back really soon, I promise."

He put the phone back down on the receiver and glared at me.

"Mai, it wouldn't kill you to leave me to my own privacy, would it?"

Glaring hard at him, I did my best to not snap.

"I would like to hear it from you, yourself Naru. I hate being kept out of the loop."

"And since when have I left you out of the loop Mai?"

"Since you hired me."

We both sat in silence and I instantly regretted my words, but they had to be said or I wouldn't have been taken seriously.

Naru let out a great long sigh and rubbed his temples. I knew a head ache was coming on.

"And I do suppose that is my fault, isn't it?" And I was surprised to find that the remark was not sarcastic at all.

"I just want you to know something, Naru," I didn't wait for him to reply. "Whatever it is, I think it would be best to let someone know what's going on through your mind. It makes it easier on the rest of us anyways."

His eyes traveled down to the cup of tea I had made for him and picked it up.

"I'm not going to leave you out of anything Mai. Not anymore. But I need to wait a bit more and get more information before I tell you everything, okay? So for today, the office is closed until I figure out what's supposed to happen."

"Anything else?"

Naru took a sip from his cup and smirked.

"Give me a sentence in English."

"What?"

I will admit, it was the last thing I expected from him.

"I didn't stutter. Give me a sentence in English."

I racked my memory to try and think of something clever to say in English.

"_I hate my boss. He can be such a jerk sometimes."_

Naru frowned and crossed his arms. I bit the bottom of my lip and tried to contain a giggle.

"_That's not very nice, Mai. Try it again."_ He instructed sternly, just like a teacher.

"_Okay… I like England. The country is very pretty and different from Japan."_ But that came out more as a question than a statement.

Naru nodded his head.

"Good. Keep practicing though, Mai. Now you are dismissed. I'll call you if anything comes up, I promise."

I gave him a small smile then stood up to leave.

A/N: Hello everybody! I missed you all and with the super rough month that I've had, I've been a bit out of it, but I decided it was time to come back and write again. I miss what I did and it's hard to come up with a decent plot with a writer's block, but this time, I think I've got it in the bag! I know it seems a bit rushed with Mai's life proceeding on soooo quickly, but, it had to be done. I wouldn't have been able to come up with anything relating to a graduation or another case, but this time, it seems perfect. I mean, she does still have classes to worry about, but it'll be easier this time. I'll make it work! I promise! But back to my absence, now that marching band season is coming to a close, which means graduation is getting closer and closer. Which also means that I'll be a bit busy getting ready to go to college! But I won't forget to update, I promise! Thanks for everything and everyone who is STILL favoriting all of my stories and such not's! I'll try to not disappoint! Also, my internet service is down, so I'll be only able to update once a week as I'm going into work! Thank you again everyone! I love you all!

Love,

Jazzy


	2. Phone calls

"He said what?"

I was on my second day after I got off from work and had been bored. When Masako found out, she immediately called me and asked for a lunch date today.

Masako nodded solemnly and looked down at her cup of tea. Her expression was unreadable, but I knew she was probably hurting somewhere deep inside.

"But that doesn't make sense."

Masako shook her head.

"He's a priest. His religion restricts him from getting into a relationship. I didn't even see it before. And I don't want him to step down from priest hood for me."

I bit my bottom lip and looked down at my untouched tea. And _I _thought I had it bad with some secrecy around the office.

"I'm sorry Masako, but you're right. It wouldn't be right of you to ask him to step down and get into a relationship. But still, I wish there was something I could do for you."

She plastered on a stupid fake smile.

"There's really nothing to be done. Just sit and wait for him to denounce his priesthood, which is most unlikely."

I grabbed one of her hands and gave it a small squeeze.

"John will do what he thinks is best for you guys."

This time, there was hope glinting in her eyes instead of the bleakness that was there before.

"Why is it that you always know what to say in bad times like these?"

I shrugged and stirred my tea with a spoon again.

"It just happens to come and go."

Masako's cell phone began to ring and her face dropped.

"It's him." She muttered then looked at me.

"Take his call. Maybe he feels really bad about what happened. I have to get back to the office and pick up a few things that I left there last night."

Masako nodded and began to get up.

"I'll buy. Call me if you guys need me."

"You know I will."

She quickly answered the phone on her way to the register and I gathered up my things. Not soon after I got ready to go, my cell rang. I quickly dug in my coat pocket for it and answered.

"Mai," Naru spoke before I even had the chance to say hello.

"Yes?"

"I have more information about what's going on. Meet me at the office in five. Try to get there before I do and have tea ready."

And he quickly hung up before I could say anything at all. I hit the red button and held it at a distance to inspect it as if Naru would call again.

'_Well I guess I don't have much of a choice.'_

I slipped out of the door and quickly headed down the dead streets. Usually, by now, people would be at school or work, not milling around in the streets.

The office wasn't that far of a walk, but I didn't make it in the five minute time limit that Naru gave me. Sighing, I braced myself for the scolding I would get as soon as I opened up the door, but surprisingly, Naru wasn't there yet. The office was dark and completely empty which filled me with relief.

I slipped into the kitchen just as soon as I heard the door open and close behind me. I peeked out the door and found it to be Lin.

"Naru's running late." He spoke before I even had a chance to ask. "He had to get something before he came in."

And with that, Lin disappeared around the corner to his office. I frowned and turned back to the tea that was ready to sit on the burner.

By the time I had the cups full with tea and made the way Naru likes his tea, the door opened up again and I heard Naru enter. I placed the tea cups on the tray and quickly greeted him.

"Hey, here's the tea you asked for."

His emotionless face met mine and my heart skipped a beat. He was tired, but he was too stubborn to admit it at all.

He approached me and took a tea off of the platter. Taking a nice sip from it, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the aroma. I knew it was all business as soon as his eyes opened back up.

"Sit with me in my office. We have a lot to discuss. Set the tray down."

I did as I was told and set the tea tray down on the coffee table as Naru went to the door to make sure it was locked. I furrowed my eyebrows but didn't ask any questions as he grabbed me by the hand and lead me to his office.

I sat down in the comfortable chair in front of his desk as he took his place behind it. He pulled some papers out and set them on top of his desk before he started.

"As you know, I report back to England's Department of Paranormal Activities. All of the reports that you file go to them and they review and decide if there's any reason for them to take action for our cases. They do the follow up checkups that we don't do. They're also the ones who keep track of anyone with any sensitivity to the paranormal."

"People like me, right?"

Naru nodded his head.

"Yes. They're worried about you from the last case."

I thought back to the last case and bit my bottom lip.

"But that was Gene who did it, not me."

Naru nodded his head again.

"Which is why they're worried, Mai. You shouldn't have lived after letting that much power travel through you. Your body isn't properly trained to hold itself against something like that. And the board of Directors are concerned that you're getting to be unstable."

"And they're afraid I'm going to hurt someone, right?" I asked, putting all of the pieces together.

"Yes. We need to travel to London so they can put you to the test. They've given us a case to work on with my parents and another field worker. They'll observe you while you work and try to help you control what it is that you have."

"But I don't even know what it is that I have anymore!"

"And that's what we're going to figure out in the next few weeks."

"That's how long we'll be gone?"

Naru shook his head soberly.

"If we solve the case, and they don't feel great about your status, they'll give us another one. I don't know how long it's going to be before we come back to Japan. So I would pack a lot of things you need. We leave tomorrow at five."

A/N: WOAH! I had a lot of awesome reviews! Thanks everyone! So, Saturdays should be my update days. If not Saturdays, then Thursdays! One of those two are the days I go to town for internet service. Anyways, as boring as this chapter is, it'll be okay. I hope. Anyways, thanks for your support again! A previous comment on one of my stories made the very first scene possible because I thought it would throw a good wrench in the mess that is already happening! :D Once again, thank you all!

Love,

Jazzy


	3. Back in England

2:26 A.M.

Day One

Somewhere over England

_I watched the spirit guide in front of me and frowned. Spirits aren't supposed to look stressed, are they? I mean, they're gone and shouldn't have a worry in the world, but this time, Gene looked slightly off with his hair astray and usually bright blue eyes dull. He looked more…Naru-ish above anything else, and there was definitely something wrong with that._

"_Mai, I'm so sorry."_

_I furrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms as I watched him._

"_What are you sorry for?"_

_He sighed as he paced the black plane and then stopped._

"_For getting you in the mess with the Board of Directors. You and Naru both."_

_When he noticed the confused look on my face he began to explain._

"_When you used the Nine Cuts to rid of that woman chasing you, you begged me for help. And I did."_

"_Right, so how can you be sorry for that?"_

_He shook his head as the scenery changed from a black plane to a room, almost like the office, and sat down in a blue chair. I frowned and walked into the room until I was standing in front of Gene._

"_Mai, they think it was just _you_ who unleashed the power. They're afraid of you and they're going to see if you'll be a real threat or not."_

_I sat down in front of him and crossed my legs as I processed the words._

"_What about Sakkara? She was a threat, and they didn't do anything."_

"_They didn't know because no one reported her. But Naru reported you. He _has _to report you Mai, or his license would be revoked and he would be sent back to England."_

_I looked down at my hands and frowned as I processed what he had said._

"_So, what do we do?"_

_Gene rose to his feet and turned away from me._

"_I don't know, Mai."_

3:03 A.M.

London Airport

I rubbed my eyes as I felt the plane touch the runway and felt instantly relieved. Naru shifted in his seat as he reached for his black messenger bag underneath his chair. I grabbed mine and searched for my journal. I knew I couldn't forget the dream that I had. Naru raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"Whatever dream you had, don't forget it and write it on the way to the house."

I sighed and knew he was right; if I wrote while I walked, something bad would happen, like me falling down a set of stairs, running into someone, or making it so illegible to read.

I waited impatiently as the stewardesses ran through the exiting procedure, and was quick to get off, but Naru grabbed my wrist and held be back so Lin could cut out in front of us. I recognized the position they placed themselves in. It was the same position they were in when I came here for the very first time. I frowned and shot Naru a questioning glance, which, of course, blew it off and pressed forward.

By the time we got through the terminal, I was pretty much sleep walking, but trying my best to remember the dream by every word and action. Naru grabbed my hand and started to lead me through the crowded room and to the escalators.

"Watch your step." I heard him mutter as we got ready to step onto them.

I glared at him and took a step with him onto the first step.

"I'm not that drowsy."

He smirked as Lin stepped on behind me then turned to search the entrance way for his mother. And of course, Madoka was there with them, waving like crazy with Luella. Martin stood off from the excited ladies and shook his head. I grinned and all drowsiness disappeared as I returned the frantic waves.

And of course, as we reach the bottom of the escalators, I rush to meet them, only to trip and face-plant in front of the ENTIRE airport.

'_Oh great.' _I thought angrily as I picked myself up off the ground with the help of a slightly irked Naru and a giggling Madoka. _'What a wonderful start in England.'_

"I don't think we could even deny you if we wanted to." Madoka said as soon as she helped me up and grabbed me in a hug. Then I was ripped out of Madoka's grip and found myself to be in the grasp of Luella, who held me tight.

"Oh Mai! We were so worried that Noll was abusing you!" She histrionically cried out.

"_Just because I forget to call you, it doesn't mean Naru locked me in the cellar and abused me."_ I grumbled and was suddenly released. Luella held me out at arm's length and studied me for a bit before she shared a glance with Martin and then to Naru. She raised her eyebrows and spoke.

"_What has Oliver done to you? You know English. And quiet well since we last met."_

I smiled as she released me. I rubbed the back of my head as Naru spoke up.

'_I didn't do anything to her mom; she just sat down and learned it after she got frustrated with our phone conversations. She knew we were talking about her and she was nosey. As usual."_

I glared at him as he smirked triumphantly. Martin touched the small of my back and directed us to the luggage carousal.

"Now isn't the time to be proving more talents here, Mai. I have a feeling that we are being observed."

Lin glanced over his shoulder slightly to check if Martin was right, but shook his head.

"Clear for now. Let's get moving."

I followed the welcoming committee and grabbed my suitcase as soon as I saw it.

Davis Mansion 9:33 A.M.

I tucked my feet underneath me as soon as I sat down on the sofa. A cup of coffee steamed in my hand and I waited it to cool down before I took a sip. Madoka sat next to me followed by Luella. Lin and Martin sat down in the recliners, but they all held folders in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Naru stood at the front of the room with a black note book in one hand and a pen in the other. It was propped open in his hand and he was making quick notes before we called the family meeting to order.

"Alright, so I know Mai has a lot of questions as of right now." Martin started off. "But before we can go any farther, we must tell you about the Board. Luella?"

Luella nodded her head agreement.

"I don't know how much Noll has told you about the board, but we'll start off with what they do. They keep track of everything paranormal that's been reported to them. They are the ones who teach at the university as well. If they find someone with the probability that they have abnormal abilities, they test them, run background checks, everything. They're pretty much the government for Paranormal Researchers. All groups have to report to them. They try to keep the balance."

Martin nodded in agreement before he took over.

"They read all of the reports that you sent in. And they've been keeping track of you. However, this time, since the last major case we had together got a little crazy, and you managed to defeat that evil spirit, they've gotten concerned with your increase of powers because you're not dead."

"So what are they gonna do?" I asked nervously.

"We don't know. They could put us through a tough case, run tests, we don't know. But what we do know is this: they can't do anything without a parent's consent, regardless of what it is, your parents or guardian must know."

"Which is why we came here, right?" I asked, catching on.

Luella nodded.

"Yep. We're your temporary guardians." Martin answered. "And because we're well respected in the community, they'll hesitate to do anything outrageous."

Already I didn't like the sound of the Board.

"You'll have a meeting with them tomorrow, Mai, so don't be nervous or anything." Madoka assured.

"Great."

A/N: Wow! Thanks for all of the support you guys are sending me! I enjoy it an awful lot. And thanks for being so patient. I was going to update yesterday, but I had a college tour, so I was too tired when I got home to do anything. But I really appreciate all of the support you guys send me again! I will make this amazingly awesome! :D

Love,

Jazzy


	4. The Verdict

Day 2

Cambridge University Campus- Conference Center- Board of Director's meeting

7:01 A.M.

I glanced around nervously and fought the urge to wring my hands in front of these important people that Naru had told me about.

'_These people sense fear.' _I reminded myself then adjusted my posture a little. Luella glanced over to me and gave me an encouraging smile.

The room wasn't large at all. It was comfortable for a meeting room, and small.

Then we both turned our attention to the leaders in front of us. On the headman's left, Gregory sat in a large comfortable chair. He seemed too involved with a book that he was marking notes in. And on the other side of the chairman, sat a woman whose sharp eyes caught the silent conversation between me and Luella. Her brown hair was slicked back into a strict bun and her beady brown eyes peered over her thin, trimmed glasses. Her pin suit fitted her appearance, straight and tidy. There was not a single hair out of place. And then there was the chairman himself. He was a large English man who wore a strict business suit as well. Like the woman, there wasn't a single grey hair out of place. His dark eye flashed between Luella and Martin before they found themselves sitting on me. He was sprouting a grey moustache and beard that he found himself scratching a little before he cleared his throat and reached in the front pocket of his jacket to get a pen. I thought his big hand had swallowed it whole, but then he began to make notes before he began.

"_Martin and Luella Davis, it's nice to see you two again."_ The board man started, in English, still intent on his notes. But then he looked up to me and made eye contact. I wanted to shrink back into my seat but I held his gaze. _"Because you don't know anything about us, I will begin introductions, Mai Taniyama. You've already met the gentleman to my left, Gregory, and to my right is Ms. Darcy Townsend. I am Marcus Cooper, the head chairman of the Board. Mr. Davis, have you the information that we require?"_

Martin nodded and pulled a large manila folder out from his briefcase.

"_Yes sir. We pulled her birth records, family lineage, testing results and everything else you could possibly need."_

Ms. Townsend retrieved the data and flipped the folder open. She was suddenly absorbed in the folder as Marcus continued the meeting.

"_Ms. Taniyama, you do understand the principle of you being here, am I correct?"_

I nodded my head.

"_Yes sir."_ I managed to squeak out.

He nodded, satisfied with himself and let out a sigh.

"_We're going to ask you some questions and you must answer them as thoroughly as possible."_

I nodded my head and answered him again so he could continue.

"_When did you begin to have dreams that involve a spirit guide?"_ Ms. Townsend asked me before she handed the file across the table to Gregory

"_When I began to work for Oliver Davis, only a few years ago."_

"_And you've been working with him since, am I correct?"_

"_Yes ma'm."_

"_Do you know who your guide is?"_

I nodded my head and looked over at Martin while Luella bent her head. He nodded his head and urged me to go on.

"_Eugene Davis, ma'm."_

Gregory nodded his head as if he was agreeing with what he was reading.

"_It says here that you've had experience with astral projecting. It first appeared during the Urado's mansion case. Have you experienced it after wards?"_

I nodded my head.

"_Yes, I was on my way to England for the first time and picked up a picture from my apartment."_

"_Why were you coming to England?" _Ms. Townsend asked immediately.

I glanced to Luella nervously. She nodded and told me I could answer.

"_I was having some personal issues with a person from a previous case. They were after revenge."_

"_Why didn't you let the authorities handle it?"_ Gregory instantly asked.

"_Because the authorities couldn't find him."_ Martin broke in. _"We offered our home for sanctuary. But I find this irrelevant."_

The chairman nodded his head and looked back to me.

"_Ms. Taniyama, could you please describe the last case in as much detail as you can?"_

And so I did. I tried as much as I could recall the entire case in detail while the chairman began to read over the file that was handed to him. He nodded his head in agreement like Gregory had and when I finished my story, a pregnant pause had filled the room.

We sat there awkwardly as the chairman finished up the rest of the file and shut it.

"_Ms. Taniyama, in order for us to decide as to what must be done for now, the three of us will meet up alone and discuss your case. What we find the most interesting part of your case, is your dream guide, and we want to further instigate on your relationship with him. However, you should hear from us in a couple of hours. When you do, be ready for anything."_

"_Thank you Mr. Cooper."_

As the three of us stood, Martin and Luella exchanged handshakes. I shook their hands gently then let Luella lead me away from that awfully cramped meeting room.

"You did great Mai." She spoke back in Japanese, which felt like a relief.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We do possibly the hardest thing ever." Martin answered as we broke out of the cold building and into the warm daylight.

"What is that?"

"Wait." The married couple answered at once.

Naru greeted us at the door as soon as we made it out of the car. His dark eyes held some kind of glint in it, but it was something I couldn't readily identify.

"They called."

Martin and Luella shared a worried glance.

"Already? We just left."

Naru crossed his arms and nodded.

"Yes, they're giving us a case to work. And a helper."

"An observer?" Madoka asked as soon as she walked out the door.

Naru nodded.

"More than likely. They're giving us Gregory to work with."

Luella's eyes got a little wide.

"Oh bollocks!"

A/N: Eh, not one of my longest chapters at all, but it was a little bit troubling to write it. And for that, I apologize. This week has been one of the longest ones, especially when I hit the midnight premier of Harry Potter. That is totally worth it, by the way. Especially when I have to return to school four hours later.! . But yeah, still loving the support, and whoever made the Twilight reference, I won't kill you only because you said you hated it too. I see where you're coming from, but the Board isn't as cold hearted as everyone finds the Voulturi or whatever, cold. Except for that one woman. Yeah, I'd say she's heartless. And I love Luella's word, bollocks. I'm dating a guy whose step dad is British, and I heard him say it the other night at the football game, so I found it fitting for Luella. :P I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and drop in a review or two! I'm happy to hear feedback. AND BY THE WAY! Before you come at me with torches and whatevers for a late update, my internet REFUSED to download fanfiction until today! Sorry for the lateness of my retarded- I mean wonderous- computer. :D

Love,

Jazzy


	5. Breifing

Day 2

Davis Mansion-

9:03 A.M.

Sipping out of my coffee cup, I peered up just as a shadow loomed over me, and then sat down next to me. I picked up the plate of cookies that sat in front of me and offered one to my new companion on the couch. My boss watched me with his blue orbs and raised an eyebrow.

"You honestly think that I want a cookie? Mai, you ought to know better."

I scowled and set the plate back down.

"I figured you'd want something sweet to make you nicer. I didn't know you were going to be a jerk about it."

He smirked at me before he handed me a folder. I set my cup of coffee down on the table and accepted the folder.

"Gregory and his team should be here any minute now." He spoke softly, and completely changing the mood on the two of us. As his words sank in, I almost choked on my coffee.

"Wait, his team?"

Naru nodded.

"Yep, he said that if he was going to be with us, he'd want his team to come too. I pulled their profiles last night. Read up on them, and see what you can learn. We need to know if Gregory is going to be fair or try to push you too hard."

"Right."

"I also called in Bou-san and Ayako-san."

"What?"

I jumped up from my spot and stood in front of him with my arms crossed. A scowl crossed his face as he stood up too.

"I didn't stutter Mai.

I wanted to hit face palm more than one.

"Why? Why would you do such a thing?"

He crossed his arms and his eyes narrowed.

"They'll be of help. Besides, they're brining over some equipment we left. They also informed me that Yasuhara-san would be joining them as well."

I started thinking it over but the frown stayed.

"Did you contact Masako or John?"

Naru shook his head.

"They aren't on talking terms as of now. I don't want any petty fights interrupting our work."

I furrowed my eyebrows and reclaimed my seat on the couch.

"I need to call her and check on her." I muttered to myself. Naru raised a questioning eyebrow but shook his head.

"I don't want to know. Just hurry up and read up, okay?"

"Yeah yeah." I waved him off.

"Oh and Mai?"

I looked up from the folder. The smirk reappeared on his face.

"I want tea."

I sent him a hard glare but his smirk didn't waver at all. Typical.

"You know, you're a lucky guy."

"I know."

And with that, he was out of the living room. I sighed and flipped the cover of the folder open and started reading through some of the profiles and sighed. Most of it was the typical Researcher stuff: graduating from Cambridge. All of them were the original members of the four-person team. And not a single one of them contained any psychic powers. Groaning, I pushed myself up from the couch and stretched.

"Mai!" I heard my name being called throughout the large mansion and I sighed. It was Luella. "Oh Mai, dear!" Now she was singing my name. I felt an eyebrow twitch and I knew she was up to no good at all.

I knew I would be found quickly though.

"In the living room!" I called back and grabbed my coffee cup and headed for the other door to the hallway, opposite of Luella.

"Hold it right there!"

I froze in my spot and knew I was caught in the middle of my retreat.

"Yes Luella?" I asked as sweetly as I could as I turned around.

"Noll is absolutely useless in the kitchen; could you help me prepare a snack for our guests?"

I nodded my head, and let out a breath that I had been holding onto. She raised a curious eyebrow and put her hands on her hips in a questioning way.

"What?"

"Well… I thought you'd ask me to dress up in a monkey suit and do something crazy." I suggested.

Luella rolled her eyes and approached me. She locked arms with me and dragged me out.

"Now, why would I ever do something _that_ drastic?"

I gave her a careful look.

"Don't think it hasn't crossed your mind Luella."

She giggled and pushed the door open into the kitchen.

We all found ourselves inside the living room yet again, but this time, Gregory joined us. And he looked just as mean as ever. He sat across from me in the recliner with folders sitting in his lap. The rest of his team, however, did not show up. They weren't coming until we actually took the case. Martin stood over a lap top with Lin next to him connected to a projector. Luella, Naru and I sat on the couch with our files to look through.

"Now that we are all settled, we can begin." Martin called us to attention and the small chatter between Luella and Madoka halted. Martin nodded over to Gregory, who stood.

"There's a hotel known in Blackpool known as Babylon, located close to the town center. It's a five star, ideal hotel, but lately, there have been reports of paranormal activity taking place, and running off the business." A picture of the hotel appeared on the blank screen setting at the front of the room. I felt my jaw drop as I took in the sight of the large, expensive hotel. There were pictures of the inside as well, but Gregory moved on. "The history of the hotel right now is muddled. We have no current records or anything. The activity began only a year ago when a couple tried hosting their wedding there." He flicked to a screen that gave me chills. It was a room with torn sheets and blankets. The mattresses had gashes in them and stuffing was coming out of the pillow. The window was broken and the T.V. screen was bashed in. None of us could even possibly miss the blood stains on the wall.

"The spirit did this to the room of the bride and groom-to-be. She woke up and he was already dead."

I bit my bottom lip and suppressed a gasp. Gregory shot me a curious look and moved on to the break-down of the hotel. Naru grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"The police wrote the dead groom off to be a homicide, but the parents think it otherwise. After the death of the groom, there've been even more reports of attacks, but mostly on the weddings. They want us to figure it out and put it all to a stop."

A/N: *Sigh* this computer really seems to hate fanfiction or something, I don't know! Anyways, this was an uber fun chappie to write, again! :P And I can't wait to bring back something that is super familiar with you guys. And we all thought it was dead and gone! But that's for a later chapter! Anyways, I'm loving the love I'm getting and I wanna keep getting it! :P

Love,

Jazzy


	6. Arrival

Day 3

England Airport

7:21 A.M.

I shivered and pulled my jacket closer to me as a gust of wind blew around our small welcoming group that was entering the airport again. It was close to the time that Ayako's and Bou-san's plane would land, so Luella, Madoka and myself had agreed to get them while the others were prepping to go to the hotel. The wind picked up again, and this time, the three of us rushed inside the warm airport. I fought off the chattering teeth and glanced around the airport, looking for our latest members to the large team we've managed to form. And then the three of us found them at the luggage carousel, pulling off box after box of the equipment.

"Do you guys need help?" Luella called out to them.

Both of them turned around, a little shocked at first, but then received us in hugs.

"We've been wondering when you'd get here!" Monk exclaimed as he released me from my tight hug and ruffled my hair. "We were beginning to wonder if you had all together forgotten us."

"We can't." Madoka spoke up. "Naru would kill us if we came back without his precious equipment."

Luella managed to find a cart to help us carry everything out to the van, and we packed quickly.

"Man, Naru must be freaking out if he wanted us to bring ALL of the equipment." Ayako griped as she loaded the last box on top.

The three of us shared a silent glance at one another.

"It's needed. This is hard." I said softly enough for the two to hear. Ayako nodded her head.

"Tell us on the way. I wanna get outta here before some kind of weird weather comes in. I heard it's supposed to snow tonight."

"Right."

Monk grabbed the cart and pushed it towards the room before he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Where's the car at?"

Ayako sighed and rolled her eyes as we giggled and followed him out of the airport and back into the crispy air.

It wasn't hard to miss the hotel at all. The giant building loomed high over us and was actually intimidating looking, but that must've been because of the dark sky. Luella frowned as the GPS system began to talk to her again and she reached up to turn it off.

"Blasted thing. Voice get's too annoying for my likings."

I stifled a giggle and turned my attention to the outside again. The hotel was extremely old, that much could be told by just looking on the outside.

"It has a lot of history, I bet." I spoke softly.

"Yes, it really does. And that's what we're here to find out." Madoka spoke.

Everyone jumped to attention as soon as the van came to a halt right next to a familiar car. Of course, our guys were waiting around the car for us, along with a bell boy and a cart. We all jumped out of the van and I stretched as Ayako and Bou-san exchanged greetings with Naru, Lin and Martin.

"The rest of the team is already setting base up. We'll take this up and finish up in there. We've got a big group, so be prepared." Martin warned the rest of us.

The bell boy rolled his cart to the back of the van, and we all began helping him unload the equipment, much to his dismay. But he was quickly silenced when Naru gave him a hard glare, but then again, who wouldn't?

And of course, the hotel wasn't disappointing at all. The floor was a pitch black marble that reflected everything off of its surface. A giant water fountain sat in the middle of the lobby, even hiding the glass elevator behind it. But perched on top of the water fountain was a model of Big Ben. There was a grand staircase next to the elevator that led upstairs to what I hope was luxurious rooms. I knew my eyes were wide for taking everything in at once, but leave it to Naru to snap me back into reality.

"If you leave your jaw open like that any longer Mai, you might catch a fly or two."

I glared at him as he wore that ever-so-obnoxious smirk.

"You take pleasure in teasing me."

"It's easy to do Mai."

Martin lead us around the staircase and behind the water fountain to the elevator, and pushed the button for us to go up before he turned back to us.

"Some are going to have to stay down here, there's not enough room."

"I'll stay." Lin instantly volunteered himself and Madoka wasn't far behind him. The elevator door dinged and opened up to reveal a very proud looking woman with a baby in her hands. She stopped and observed us before she stopped off.

"_You're here to figure out what's going on, right?"_

Martin was the one who answered her.

"_Yes, we're going to try to put things back to the way they were."_

She nodded her head and looked as if she agreed.

"_Good. Something needs to happen around here. Here's my number if you need any help. I know more about this hotel than anyone here."_

She whipped a card out from her pocket then stepped off the elevator.

"_I'm free anytime."_

And with that, she quickly walked out of our way, as if she hadn't stopped at all. Martin ushered the rest of us into the elevator, but we were in a quiet stupor still, until Naru spoke first.

"That would be the daughter of the owner to the hotel. She grew up here."

"You've already read the profile?" I asked.

He nodded his head just as the elevator jerked to a sudden stop. A little ding once again filled the silence and we all stepped out after Martin.

"This way."

We followed him down the corridors, but there wasn't a single room that looked like it was a hotel room. The entire floor was made of conference rooms, a dance hall, and anything else they had found suitable. Naru explained it to me as we were weaving in and out of the halls. We finally found a room with a door wide open, and it was a room full of mirrors. But instead of ballet dancers, there were desks sitting in front of the mirrors. A mass majority of them were covered with monitors and equipment similar to ours. The large table in the middle was covered with empty boxes and cords galore. At the desks, sat three figures, and one of them was Gregory. Two men were his assistants, and both of them were polar opposites of one another. The youngest one of them was wearing relaxing clothes while the other wore a suit and looked more professional than the other. All three of them looked up as we came in.

"Hello ladies, it's nice that you finally joined us." Gregory spoke, breaking the silence. He stood up from his desk, and approached our small group. He held a hand out to Ayako.

"Gregory Renaldo is my name. You must be Ayako Matsuzki?"

She accepted his hand and gave him a gentle shake, thankful that he spoke to her in Japanese. She didn't know much English as she explained on the way up here.

"Yes I am. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." He dropped her hand and took a step back. _"Mai, Ms. Matsuzki, this is the rest of my team members, Brent Dorn and Haden Ramey. Say hello boys."_

The younger member, Haden, gave us an enthusiastic wave while Brent nodded his head. There was a tentative knock on the door, then it opened up and revealed the dangerously—stacked cart. I bit my bottom lip as Monk pushed his way around and looked between us all.

"_Well?"_ He asked. _"Let's get this unloaded!"_

He picked a case up off the top and a mass majority of the cases fell over.

"Oh damn." Monk cussed in Japanese as we rushed to help him.

A/N: Darn. I didn't know how busy I would be! But semesters is next week! So that means two things: 1) CHRISTMAS BREAK! 2) My senior year is almost coming to a close. I need to make decisions and apply for grants and stuff… So I'll be busy, granted, but I will ALWAYS make time for you guys, simply because I love you all. So I realized I hadn't done a shout-out yet, and I would right now, but I'm too lazy to go back and do it… Sorry. But thank you to every single one of you. If I could, I would hug you all and give you cookies. So I'm curious, what kind of crowd am I attracting here? Girls? Guys? You can tell me if you want, or don't want to. I was just curious because today in class, we were talking about different types of audiences, and I began to wonder about my audience. But anyways…. Back to the story- this was a fun chapter to write, I mean, who DOESN'T like it when Monk gets in trouble with Naru when he's only been in England for an hour and a half? :P I love you guys, once again! So, do the three Rs: Read, Review, Relax. :D Take care!

Love,

Jazzy


	7. A Little Boy Who Didn't Sleep?

Day 3

7:12 P.M.

Babylon Hotel

I glanced over at our large group of interrogators and began to shift uncomfortably. Was there any point in that many of us being there? I mean, we had the usual trio: Lin, Naru and myself. But then, Martin was sitting next to Lin, and Gregory sat next to one of his guys, whose name I couldn't remember. And sitting in front of us was an elderly man, the head janitor, who was smart enough to keep a record of all the weird happenings in the hotel since he started working there. I could tell that the room full of men were impressed.

"How long have you been working here?" Naru asked the wrinkled man.

He scrunched his eyebrows together and thought hard.

"A long time my boy." He declared. "And I have been here long enough to be thankful that somebody is finally doing something about it!"

Gregory picked up a copy of some statistics that we had been given by the owner of the hotel and scanned them over.

"It says here, Mr. Harness, that out of all of the staff, you and a few others are the oldest ones still around. Everyone else has quit. What keeps you here?"

His eyes lit up as a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Why, Mr. Renaldo. It is love that keeps me here."

The room grew silent as all eyes turned on him. It was a moment that made me want to get all squealy like a fan girl would, but he continued.

"I'm in love with this whole building, and I want to see these spirits put to rest at once. They deserve it."

"You make it sound as if they should be rewarded for their hard work." Gregory commented.

"They should be." Then his face fell and grew darker. "But not everyone deserves the peace. They've been trying forever for someone to solve the great mystery."

Naru and his father shared a look before Martin asked the silent question.

"And what exactly is the great mystery, Mr. Harness?"

The man shrugged.

"That's why it's a mystery, Dr. Davis- no one knows."

8:11 P.M.

"_The hotel has been temporarily shut down so we can begin our investigation. Not only are we on a time schedule, not everyone is happy that they don't have a job. But fortunately, the hotel is in the midst of dead period, so they weren't making an awful lot of money. But we need to be done soon so they can open up for the holiday, which means we need to move quickly and work even harder than ever. So, does everyone have their lists_?" Gregory asked the roomful of us investigators. Lin, Luella, and Gregory would hang back and man the camera set- up operation while the rest of us broke off into groups of two and placed the cameras up in the places on our lists and warned us about the dangers that each area had possessed. The other guy, Haden had been trying to make small talk with me while Gregory spoke, and I ignored him the best I could while trying to listen to the dangers. Knowing my luck, I would happen to run into something dangerous.

And so, I was eternally grateful when Naru slipped between me and Haden and gently grabbed my hand. He leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear.

"Yasuhara is going to stay in contact with Madoka and Lin. He pulled up some useful information on the hotel."

I nodded as Naru backed away and Gregory finally finished his last words.

"_Do NOT get lost here. We don't know the grounds as well as we'd like to. Call in and check in when you can. Good luck."_

Haden had given me a look from the corner of his eye, but turned and partnered up with his senior, Brent. Naru gave my hand a tug and I followed him to the table to get the cameras from our group.

"Where do we go to first?" I asked cautiously.

"The farthest place from here- the stables."

A small frown grew on my face as I watched Naru's back while he collected the items.

"We were given the dangerous list, weren't we?"

He remained silent, but kept collecting things.

"Naru?"

"In a second Mai, and I'll explain."

He turned around and handed me the stands. I dropped his hand and obediently received the equipment. He held several cameras and stuffed them all into a bag, then slung it on his shoulder.

"Come on Mai, we don't have a lot of time to get there before they lock up for the night."

I followed him quickly out of the door and we made our way down the hall way. I caught up with Naru and matched his long strides.

"Gregory is testing us by giving us the most haunted places. Whether or not they're dangerous is different. There's only one place that is dangerous that we'll have to get in and out of. Did you catch all of the notes in the debriefing?"

I shook my head.

"No, he was going too fast for me in English and that Haden guy kept talking to me."

"I noticed." He grumbled. "Don't let any one of them distract you Mai. Keep your mind clear for this case. It might get bad."

"Which is why you've been in a bad mood all day, am I correct?"

He shot me a dark look that didn't faze me at all.

"Mai, this isn't a laughing matter. We need this case to work out."

"I'm not laughing, Naru. And it will work out. I mean, aren't we the best team in all of England?"

He remained silent as we found ourselves walking down the Grand Stair case and out the doors.

"So what was at the stables?"

"A little boy. Name is unknown, but it is said that he was picked up off the streets to work as a stable boy. According to the story, he was found sleeping in a haystack, and his master killed him with a pitchfork out of anger and beheaded the kid."

I frowned and watched Naru's stern face.

"You don't believe it?"

"It is hard to believe. Why would someone kill the only one who would work a job like that? The kid was always on his feet."

I nodded and fell behind Naru a little bit as my steps slowed.

"Right. Fowl play?"

"Haven't the slightest idea Mai. That's what we're here for."

We broke through the doors and out into the crispy cold night. I looked up at the dark sky and saw dark clouds moving in as I pulled my light jacket closer to myself.

"Are we supposed to get snow?"

"I haven't heard Mai. Keep focusing on this case."

"Right."

We found the stables with relative ease, and after convincing the stable's master that we weren't with any rival horse traders, we set up the camera near the haystacks, where the boy's body was supposedly found. I slipped on the headset and set the stands down next to Naru. I switched the camera on and slipped a tape inside of it to record tonight's events.

"Lin, is this a good position?"

"It's fine where it's at. Get moving."

I frowned into the camera and moved away quickly, taking the headset off.

"Let's go."

Naru handed me the stands and we both left the stables.

A/N: Grrr… I sorry it's late again. But this is funner than I thought. I'm doing a little more research on Ghost Hunting than I had ever done, and I was having a blast learning about all sorts of protection charms and prayers. I also had to look more into lay-outs and what nots, so now that I'm 100% sure of where this is going, it will be easier to update! Especially since this one doesn't have school for a while! Tehehee… But I plan on updating a lot more now that I have the break and my goal is to finish it! Wish me luck! But I promise I'm not going to rush into details. I want this one to be one of my best ones yet! Whoo! So, anyways, thank you everyone for your support! I love reading your reviews, I feel a connection as an author to a reader! I can't wait for this to get to some of the freakin' great parts! It'll be epic! Read. Relax. Review. And enjoy!

Love,

Jazzy


	8. Missing

Day 4

Babylon Hotel

8:21 A.M.

I rubbed my temple and looked over the copies of the list that the old man had given us last night. Naru made my job a simple one: translate for Ayako and Monk.

Oh, and type it up on Lin's laptop.

And of course, Lin was reluctant to hand over his precious item and I was hesitant to receive it. The poor Chinese man had stood over me for a second, and he left me be as I began to type up the list. Now, I was on number twenty nine out of forty three. I was picturing ways to kill Naru or even make him suffer through torture as his words came back to me.

'_It will be a great way to practice your translation skills. I can't always be there to translate for Takigawa or Ms. Matsuzuki.'_

Oh, the possibilities of the end of his life were absolutely endless.

But shaking my head, I knew there was an even better reason as to why I was doing this. I would know of all the hotspots. Even the stables seemed completely harmless compared to the other places. There was a hallway on the top floor that would "swallow" people. There was another corridor that was possessed by a strange spirit whose face would appear from the wall and reach out to grab someone. It would keep them in a trance and show their captive something terrible. It would cause the person to go insane, and if they stuck around long enough, the spirit would kill them.

"_How long have you been working with Dr. Davis?" _

I looked up at the person who spooked me a little bit.

"_Well hello to you too. I work with Dr. Davis whenever I come to England or when he comes to Japan to work on a case with my team. It's an on and off relationship."_

Haden frowned and took a seat next to me.

"_You know that's not what I meant."_

I smirked and continued typing the list.

"_I'm Japanese and not very good with English-isms. I didn't understand which Dr. Davis you meant."_

His hazel eyes watched me a little bit more before he broke a smile.

"_That's right. You didn't know Oliver by his real name when you started working for him, am I correct?"_

"_You are correct. So, if you know so much about SPR, then why are you asking me how long I've worked for Dr. Davis?"_

He shrugged casually and flipped out his large cell phone.

"_Curious is all. I've worked with Gregory ever since I started working the business. About six years ago maybe?"_

"_Hmmm. That's great for you."_

He raised an eyebrow and peered at the screen.

"_What is that?"_

"_A list."_

"_A list of what?"_

I turned to him with the straightest face I could possibly have.

"_A Christmas list for the ghosts. You know, they get lonely too when it's the holidays." _I commented dryly then got back to my list. I was on forty.

He broke a smile and shook his head.

"_You are one interesting character Mai."_

"_I try so hard. Do you specialize in something Haden?"_

His face grew a little serious and nodded his head.

"_Yep. Specialize in Prayer. I've got something for every occasion we have ever faced."_

"_Are you a priest?"_

"_More or less. I got my degree online."_

"_Congrats."_

"_And what about you? Do you specialize in anything?"_

I typed the last bullet and hit the print button.

"_I thought you read that in my file."_

"_What makes you think I have a file on you?"_

"_Because I'm the one that Gregory is testing out to see if I'm going to be a big problem maker in the future or not."_

"_I didn't get a file, if that helps?"_

I eyed him warily and gathered up the papers that had been printed off.

"_Then I'll tell you. I specialize in making tea to fit my boss's appetite. I'm the spirit magnet. I can astral project into memories, and become part of the past. Other times, I astral project to find someone or something that has been missing and leave something real behind. But that only happened once."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_When one of my friends went missing, I found her through my sleep and left her a key. When we found her, she returned the key to me."_

His eyes lit up impressed.

"Mai." I was relieved to hear the Chinese man approach us from behind that I almost threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. Lin peered over at the younger guy and back to me. I think he came over to save me.

"Yeah?"

"Naru is asking for his tea. He's in his room."

"Right. Thanks Lin."

"Did you get the lists printed off?"

"Hai." I held them up in my hand. Lin nodded in approval and stepped out of the way to return to his beloved laptop.

I walked out of the conference room and searched for Naru's room. I found it with relative ease and knocked gently on the door. It creaked open and revealed Martin.

"Hello Mai. I assume you're here for Noll?"

I nodded my head.

"Hai. I finished the list and printed it off for him and the others. And I heard he desired his tea?"

Martin rolled his eyes and let me in.

"Yes, he mentioned it several times in the last five minutes. Thank God you've arrived to serve him." He teased gently and let me in the room. I found Naru sitting at the desk on his laptop typing away madly. I approached him and rubbed his shoulders.

"I finished the lists. Would you like some tea?"

He glanced up over his shoulder and smirked.

"You can read minds now? What a talented person you're turning out to be."

I frowned and removed my hands.

"Hey, don't mock me Naru. I might end up poisoning your tea. Who knows what remedies I could create?"

The look on his face turned dark and he glared at me.

"Don't try it Mai. I would hate to fire you because of your tea. You'd have to find your own way home."

"Ayako would take me." I teased.

"Don't count on it. She might be afraid that you would poison her next." He smirked as I bit my bottom lip to contain my short burst of anger.

"Since you're here, we need to talk." Luella started.

I frowned and straightened up.

"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound too good."

Martin stood next to his wife and put a hand on her shoulder.

"We talked it over. You shouldn't be out in the halls by yourself, Mai. This case is dangerous. We don't know anything about this hotel, not until Yasuhara sends Lin the info. Where ever you go, make sure someone is with you please?"

I nodded my head.

"I understand."

There was a sudden knock on the door and Martin walked over to answer it. Gregory stood at the door way, his face absolutely calm.

"There was a disappearance down that hallway. It was caught on tape and there's a witness. She's on the first floor. Let's go."

9:03 A.M.

I set the tray of tea down in front of the silent witness and took a seat right next to her. Naru sat next to me and Gregory sat across from us three. I knew Lin and Brent were waiting outside for us. The poor maid was still trying to pull herself together the best she could.

"_Ms. Nolan, if you don't tell us what happened, we can't help your friend."_ Gregory spoke softly to her, which surprised me.

But I realized that if he was overbearing and straight forward with her, she would just lock up and not tell anything. What we all were worried about was the effect the attack had on her.

She took a deep breath in, but didn't make any eye contact. I gently set a hand on her back and she finally looked up at me.

"_H-he was grabbed and the wall swallowed h-him."_ She bit her bottom lip. _"S-someone grabbed him out of the wall and dragged him through it. I-I couldn't get t-t-to h-him in time."_ She snuffled and looked back down at the tea.

"_Did you see anything besides him getting grabbed?"_ Naru asked softly.

She looked up to him and back over to me.

"_It was a man who grabbed Andrew."_ She spoke more confidently. _"He said something, but I didn't hear it."_

Gregory let out a sigh and rubbed his temples.

"_Thank you Ms. Nolan. If we find him, we'll be sure to contact you immediately."_

The woman stood up a little shakily, which worried me enough to stand up with her.

"_Thank you sir."_

Gregory looked over to me and Naru.

"_I believe Ms. Taniyama will escort you to your car if you think you're fit enough to drive home."_

Naru glanced over to me and back to Gregory with a hard look.

"You expect me to let Mai walk around in this hotel by herself?" He asked quietly in Japanese.

I bit my bottom lip and watched the silent exchange.

"_Of course, I'll also have Brent escort you two ladies. It wouldn't be great if something happened to Ms. Taniyama on her way back either, now would it? Come Dr. Davis, we have a missing person to find."_

Naru glanced towards me with strong blue eyes, but I knew he couldn't refuse. I nodded my head and let him leave with Gregory, though it was hard.

I turned back to the woman and rubbed her arm gently.

"_Come, let's get out of here."_

She nodded and laced her arm through mine. Brent poked his head inside the room and waited for us to exit. To my relief, when we walked out, Lin fell in step next to me. I glanced up at the Chinese man.

"Arigato Lin."

He nodded in reply as we continued our silent decent downstairs. Finally, the silent maid spoke to me.

"_He was my brother."_

I glanced at her, a little bit shocked.

"_I didn't know. I'm sorry."_

"_He didn't want me to work here either. Told me it was dangerous."_

"_What were you guys doing here anyways? I thought the hotel was closed." _Lin commented.

She looked over to Lin a little shocked and looked down at her feet.

"_We were cleaning up some of the rooms that people had left today. There had been a wedding that we had been prepping for, but since the owner had shut it down, they had to move the wedding. My brother and I were the only ones left around to clean up."_

We broke through the doors and stepped out into the crispy air. I shivered and instantly regretted not grabbing a coat but didn't say anything.

"_Here's my car." _Ms. Nolan pointed out.

She released my arm and walked to the car by herself.

"_Do you have our business card? You know, if something comes up?" _ I asked her a bit worriedly.

She nodded her head and got in the small car.

"_That it the third person gone missing in the past two months. This isn't good." _Brent spoke first.

"_Our outside informer sent us the proper information to review. We should hurry back." _Lin spoke.

I felt a little bit of tension between the two men, but I bit my bottom lip from mentioning it. We hurried back in to the warm building, but when we went to the elevator, it had been shut off. And that's when we noticed the silence as well. The water fountain wasn't sprouting it's lovely grandeur. Everything that was magnificent, or even a symbol of the hotel was dull and turned off.

"They shut the hotel down except for our electricity." Lin spoke softly to me.

"I guess we need to hurry then." I answered and turned for the stairs.

But as soon as I stepped onto the first step, I froze as a cold feeling swept over me. Then an image hit me as I took a step backwards off the stairs.

_White fabric tangled with legs and arms and the steps. Even diamonds fell off the gown. Yellow something getting stained a dark color. Red? It's all too chaotic to properly see but the sense of falling and panic is definitely there._

Something warm touched my shoulders and brought me back to reality.

"_Mai! Snap out of it girl!" _I looked up at the demanding voice of Brent and gasped.

"_Ah! I'm so sorry to worry you. I just had a vision I think."_

"_You think?" _Lin stepped in front of me and turned to face me.

"_Yeah. It was all muddled. Nothing made sense."_

He nodded and looked back at Brent.

"_Let's get you back to base and you can tell us all about it."_

A/N: Hello! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I did! What did you guys get? I wanna know! Tehehehehehehehe… So, anyways, I made this chapter a little longer because I just couldn't stop writing or figure out where to end the chapter at. I'm sure after this little Author's note, I'll keep adding just a few more things, because, hey, it's what I do best: change my mind! ^^ And keep those reviews coming! You guys are giving me wonderful ideas. And to answer some questions: No, Haden isn't looking for a relationship with Mai. He's flirting to get information. But he's failing. Miserably. Muwhahahahaha! :D I don't like adding in those kinds of characters who want to steal Mai away because it seems so…..repetitive. And I'm shooting for Originality. :D Anyways, I just wanted to clear that through before people get the wrong ideas. Anyways, keep those reviews coming please! I enjoy reading your feedback! Even if it's a week and a half late!

Love,

Jazzy


	9. Black Tourmaline

Day 4 Continued

Babylon Hotel- Base

12:03 P.M.

I folded my legs up underneath me and held a fork and a bowl in my other hand. The smell of Ramen noodles made my stomach growl loud and I could hardly wait to eat them. But it was still so hot. Monk sat next to me on the small couch and gave me a look.

"Really Mai? Ramen?"

I grinned and smiled.

"Ramen. With a fork, Monk." _'Mainly because no one in this country has chopsticks. I have to make do though.' _I silently added.

He shook his head and laughed at me.

"Where are the others at?"

I looked around for anybody missing from our group but found only Lin and Martin gone. Again.

"Others?"

"You know? The big guy that's supposed to be testing you and his crew?"

It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about.

"Oh, yeah. I think he's with Lin and Martin translating Yasu's notes into English on the computer."

Monk let out a sigh.

"It would be easier if everyone in the world learned to speak Japanese."

I smirked and shook my head.

"And everyone would be better off if they learned how to speak English." Martin walked in the room with the missing people trailing him. Martin sat down on top of the desk in front of our group and Gregory lead his group to the back of the room. I glared down at my bowl of Ramen and stuck my fork in it, fishing around for a bunch of noodles.

"While we're all together like this, Gregory will translate for his team." Martin spoke. He held up folders in front of him, and then started to pass them out. Everyone grew silent and fell into their places. Naru leaned against the arm of the sofa that I resided in. He glanced over his shoulder down at what I was eating and rolled his eyes.

"Yasuhara had sent us a bunch of information and together with what Madoka has pulled, this hotel has a history. It starts back in the early 1800's, when this place was first built. It originally had been an Estate Manor for the Caldwell family, someone who was once rich and lived luxuriously. But one day, they found their stable boy, headless and lying in the haystack. That boy was the first one to die on this property according to the records. And then it got worse from there. The day the youngest Caldwell heiress, Mary, was to marry, she was found dead. Soon after her death, her betrothed, Landon Darby, followed. And not far behind the fiancé, his best friend, Humphrey Winfield, died on the estate."

"What was the span of the deaths?" Monk asked.

Martin looked down at his papers and sighed.

"All within a week of each other."

The only thing that disturbed our silence was the silence mummer that came from Gregory as he explained what was being said. And then my Ramen noodles caught my attention again as I dipped down for another great bite.

"After that, the Estate completely shut down. The owner refused to sell the land for as long as he lived. When he did pass on, he left the estate to one of his sons, who understood why his dad kept it shut. He followed his dad, and kept it shut until the day he died. But when he died, he passed the key onto his son, who didn't understand why it was a big deal to keep it shut. He found their ideas ludicrous and reopened the house as soon as renovations were made in 1901. The man soon moved in with his life and lived there for a long time without any paranormal incidents."

I watched as Martin went back to the file looking for his notes. I flipped my file open and flipped through some of the pages.

"However, in 1932, the man was caught cheating on his wife. She went on a rampage and killed him accidentally. But no one knows what happened of her. Some believe that she never left the house. That also ended the Caldwell lineage. The Estate went to a nephew on the woman's side."

"Someone who didn't know about the strange events." Ayako mused.

Naru nodded his head and answered her question.

"Correct." Martin started. "He didn't know what to do with the huge estate by himself. And with the city growing around him, he did what he thought would be most profitable: turn it into a hotel and sell the extra land around it. To people who didn't know about the history either. But nothing happened to the people who bought the land and built on it. Only the ones who came to the hotel. Recently, the nephew passed away, and passed the land onto his granddaughter."

The wheels started turning in my head and I understood who the owner was.

"We met her daughter at the elevator." I spoke up first.

Martin nodded and Gregory stepped in our conversation.

"_She's getting ready to inherit the hotel. Her mother isn't in good condition and has been running it for a few months." _

Monk nudged me and I glanced over at him.

"I need a translation." He whispered.

"The girl we met at the elevator is getting ready to inherit the hotel. We need to cleanse it before she takes over."

He nodded his head and leaned back in the sofa again.

"_What about the attacks? When did they start happening?"_

I looked over at Brent who was flipping through the files as well, looking for his answer.

"_As soon as the hotel opened. But they weren't as frequent as they are now."_

"_So what changed then?"_

The room grew silent as we began to ponder the question.

8:32 P.M.

I stretched out on the window seat and looked out over the courtyard. A small smile began to form on my lips as I saw that snow was touching down.

"_It's the first snow fall for England this year, isn't it?"_ I asked in general but then realized that none of my team members were in the room except for Naru, Martin and Brent.

"_Yep. First snow fall is supposed to be the best one of the year." _It was Brent who answered me.

I grinned over at Naru.

"_See, I'm not the only one who believes in that!"_

Naru rolled his eyes.

"_Why don't you take Madoka with you to go check the video camera in the stables? We want to reset it so it's facing everything, not just a wall."_

I sighed and pushed myself up off the cushioned seat.

"Hai."

I grabbed a head set on my way out and traveled not far down the hallway to my room and let myself in. As soon as I shut the door though, there was a silent knock on it. I turned around and opened it again, only to be grabbed into a tight hug.

"Oh Mai! Dearest, sweetest Mai! Why must you let that awful boy boss you around?" Madoka exclaimed in my ear as she spun me around. "You know what it's doing outside, don't you?" She didn't even give me time to answer before she let me go and rushed to get my jacket and gloves for me. "It's snowing Mai! And I love it when it snows!"

I giggled as she threw the items in my hands.

"I know you like the snow Madoka. Are you going to help me with the camera?"

She stopped her running about and looked down at herself.

"Well, it looks like I'm properly dressed to face the cold weather. So yeah, I'll be happy to help you Mai-chan!"

"Great!"

I quickly slipped my gloves and managed to get my coat on while Madoka practically dragged me out of the door.

The sound of the snow crunching underneath our shoes was nice and crisp, just as they should be. But there wasn't enough on the ground to even make a decent snowball. But Madoka was still grabbing handfuls of the snow and sending it up in the air. I shook my head and continued to focus our flashlight forward, even though the dusk of dawn light shone on a path to the barn.

"Madoka?"

"Hm?"

Another handful of snow landed in my hair as I turned to look at her.

"Do you think the attacks happened before or after the stable boy died?"

She shrugged.

"It's hard to tell what happened, Mai. History in England is so freakin' old, who knows what was going on before the estate was built."

"Great." I mumbled and kicked some snow.

"_Madoka!"_

We both turned to the source, and found Brent trailing behind us. Madoka instantly put on a beautiful smile.

"_How nice of you to join us Brent!" _She greeted cheerfully.

'_The temperature in the barn dropped a bit and Gregory got a bit edgy."_

"_Was there any other signs of spirits or was it just a temperature drop?" _Madoka asked.

Brent shrugged.

"_There wasn't but we wanted to be safe."_

We continued our march to the barn silently. I reached the door froze and grabbed the frozen handle and pulled it open Madoka thanked me and slipped in. An arm reached over my head and grabbed the door. I looked up and saw Brent, who nodded at me to go ahead and go in. I smiled warmly at him and followed Madoka in. The door shut behind us with a silent click. I half expected the stable to be a bit warmer than outside, but it wasn't. The three of us shared a concerned look as I slipped on the headset and pulled out the digital thermometer.

"Lin." I spoke into them, praying it was the Chinese man who would answer.

"Hai?" I sighed out in relief when I heard his voice. The thermometer beeped as it came on and began to measure the temperature.

"How cold is it outside?"

"Hold on."

I nodded even though he couldn't see it. I searched the stables and found where we had left the camera.

"_Let's move it back close to the door and get out of here, okay?" _I spoke.

"Mai?" Lin's voice crackled. "It's currently twenty-one degrees Fahrenheit outside."

Brent grabbed the camera as Madoka grabbed the stand and together, they moved it back to the door. The thermometer beeped at me and I glanced down at it and gasped.

"It's currently 3 degrees Lin."

"And still dropping!" He spoke quickly, shocked. "You guys need to get out of there!"

Static replaced Lin's voice. I ripped the headset off and turned to the two adults.

"_Something's coming!"_

Brent glanced over to me and froze. I could tell he was looking behind me.

"_Don't panic Mai. No matter what."_

He pointed behind me and I turned to see the form of a small boy approaching us. He wore a sick grin on his pale, ghastly face. He started to reach out for us. As he got closer, I could see a line forming around his neck and blood began to drip down from the cut. I took a step back as he pulled an axe from behind his back and held it in the air. His eyes immediately focused on Madoka and started to approach her. I raised my hands to perform the mantra Monk had taught me, but then, something was thrown at him, and the spirit reared back, confused as to what was thrown at him. Brent stepped out in front of Madoka and held his hands in front of him as he spoke a silent prayer.

"_Saint Michael the Archangel, Defend us in battle," _the little boy instantly turned angry eyes to Brent and growled at him. But the man ignored it and continued. "_Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil, may God rebuke him, we humbly pray." _It took an unsure step forward to him, but stopped completely. Then took several steps back and glanced back at Madoka then to me. It was very angry. "_And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits, who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen"_

The little boy let out a blood curling scream and retreated back into the shadows. Brent walked to where the spirit had one stood, and bent over to pick up something. He straightened up and held a little stone up in the flashlight.

"_Well, I'm glad I grabbed the right stone!" _He commented cheerfully, then stuck the little stone back in his pocket.

"_Thank you Brent. I completely forgot about your ability!" _Madoka commented cheerfully.

Brent glanced over at me.

"_Sorry, I figured you had it, but when he pulled the axe out, I stepped in. Are you okay?"_

I nodded before words found me.

"_What was that? That little stone saved us, didn't it?"_

Brent shrugged and opened up the door to let us out.

"_It's __Black Tourmaline. It's a protective shield against psychic energy and negative energy. That's what stopped it from touching Madoka or you. The prayer was of Saint Michael the Archangel. He's the guardian angel according to my religion."_

"_That was still really neat! Where did you learn to do that?"_

He smiled down at me as we crossed the courtyard in a rush.

"_Unlike the kid, I was raised in a religious home. I went as far as I could in my field."_

We made it through the doors where we were greeted by a running party of Gregory, Monk, Ayako and Martin. Monk sighed in relief before he rushed me and hugged me tight. I gasped, trying to break out of his tight grip.

"Oh Mai! We were worried that you were going to get hurt!" He cried happily as he spun me around in his hug.

"M-Monk! Let me go!" I demanded and hit his arm.

He dropped me to my feet and gave me a stern look. But it was Gregory who broke us out of our happy reunion. He didn't look too happy at all.

"_Brent, we need to talk in private."_

The other British man gave him an equal look and followed Gregory to their room I assumed.

Martin cleared his throat and looked down at me.

"Let's get you two warmed up. Noll doesn't know about this yet, so you'll want to be ready for it."

I looked down at my hands grumpily.

"Oh great."

A/N: Hey guys! HAPPY NEW YEAR! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This means that I only have: Duh duh duh~! 18 WEEKS UNTIL GRADUATION! Yeah! Go me! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I didn't know where to stop. And I did a little research on it too! So yeah, here it is! Tell me what you all think! ^^ My break is coming to a close and I have a really important try-out date coming up for All Region, so I don't know if I'll be able to update next weekend or not, but I'll try my darnest! Happy New years everyone! I hope 2011 will be good for you all! :D

Love,

Jazzy


	10. Another Battle Story?

Day 5

Babylon Hotel- The girls' room

3:28 A.M.

_I kept running, I knew not where else to go. Everything that I had thought would work out failed. All my plans: backfired. Nothing was working anymore, and it was time to resort to plan B. I heard him call out my name from behind, but I refused to look back._

_I couldn't afford to look back._

My eyes flashed open quickly and a gasp escaped from me. I slowly sat up and ran my fingers through my hair.

'_That is weird.'_

I glanced at the other sleeping forms of my roommates and let out a relieved sigh. I was glad neither one of them had woken up yet. My covers felt constricting, so I ripped them off and slipped out of my bed. I made sure I had a room key and slipped out of the door quietly. The hallway was light lightly and I was suddenly very grateful that the base wasn't too far down the hallway.

'_This is stupid. I'm walking through the hall in the middle of the night without anyone, but I really couldn't stay in there.' _I argued with myself as I opened the door quietly and peeked in.

"Hello?"

The man sitting at the monitors quickly turned his chair around and sighed in relief when he saw me.

"Ms. Taniyama, what on earth are you doing up at this time?" Gregory asked.

I shut the door behind me and walked over to the coffee pot.

"It was a dream that woke me."

I poured myself some coffee and sat down in a chair next to him. He raised an amused eyebrow and watched me.

"I thought you hated me."

I shrugged.

"I never told you that I hated you. I just don't like people who are too hard and underestimate the team. That's all."

A smirk grew on his face as he looked back to the screen.

"You're an interesting character, Mai."

"So I'm told."

I took a sip of the dark coffee and made a face. It was bitter. I quickly set the cup down.

"What is that? Poison?"

Gregory shook his head.

"It's what they call cowboy coffee in America. A lot of beans, not a lot of water. It's to help stay up all night."

"Eww."

Gregory managed a smirk as he studied me with those dark grey eyes of his. The man suddenly seemed older as the dark shadows developed in underneath his eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?"

I glanced up at him slightly surprised.

"What, my dream? It was confusing."

Gregory made a face as he scooted his chair back to face me.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so nice?" I shot back at him.

"Why did you come to me? You knew I was working the shift tonight."

I made a face and folded my legs underneath me then shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe I thought you would be interested. Besides, you were already up."

Gregory nodded his head and looked over at the monitors before glancing back at me.

"So are you going to tell me your dream?"

I nodded my head slowly.

"Yeah. Normally, when I have one of those dreams, I can see what's going on in different point of view. But this time, I was inside the spirit's thoughts. It was full of panic and resentment. But that was all I could. The spirit mentioned something about another plan. It was running from something. I think it was a woman."

Gregory watched me carefully as I told him what happened in my dream and would occasionally nod his head as if he was agreeing with me.

"This certainly does seem different than the norm. I wonder if this had anything to do with the boy in the barn."

We were silent for second, and I bit my bottom lip. Gregory turned back to the screens and pulled up his lap top.

"Why did you get onto Brent for using the stone?"

Gregory turned back around and faced me.

"Because those stones are damn expensive to use. It takes a lot out of a user, weather it means to or not. Especially the Black Tourmaline. It's a powerful stone that serves as a protective and psychic shield, protects against psychic attacks, and repels negative energy."

"Oh. He mentioned other stones, what do they all do?"

Gregory groaned as he leaned back in his chair.

"Are you usually this inquisitive?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah. I want to know what I'm dealing with."

He smirked and nodded.

"Smart girl. Well, there are many different stones, and each one has a different or similar use. In Brent's case, he keeps six stones on him, Black Tourmaline, Hematite, Black Onyx, Fluorite, Carnelian, and the Blood Stone."

"And each one has its own thing?"

Gregory nodded.

"Yes. I just told you about the Black Tourmaline. The Hematite is a grounding stone if you're going to do any out of body experiences. It dissolves negative energy and transforms it into positive energy, which is really great when there's a ghost after you. It's easy to find if you know where to go.

"And then you have the Black Onyx which is a stone that strengthens your energy during confusing or stressful times both physically and mentally. Not as powerful against anything paranormal, but it definitely helps the morale of the team. Then there's the Fluorite, which is an odd little stone because there are many colors to it. The Fluorite is highly protective especially on a psychic level. It aids in grounding much like the Hematite. A very useful stone if you're going to be dealing with something nasty. Also hard to find. Many people believe it's mainly because there are different characteristics to identify it."

"So how will you know if you actually have the right stone?" I asked, suddenly intrigued.

Gregory shrugged.

"I guess you'll know when the stone has failed protecting you from getting ripped to pieces by a vengeful spirit."

I frowned and scooted away for a bit.

"You sound like you know that from experience?"

Gregory sighed.

"Another battle story for another time. Right now, we're focusing on the stones. Name the ones I've listed so far. I want to know if you've been paying attention."

I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to think.

"The Black Tourmaline, it's supposed to be a shield. Fluorite, which is highly protective like the Black Tourmaline, but hard to find. And the Black Onyx that strengthens the team morale in difficult times."

"Good. Now I get to ask you a question."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"But that's not all of them!"

Gregory smile and shrugged.

"That's life dear. I'm sure you know what I'm gonna ask though."

"I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with that really big case that Luella and Martin took with us the last time."

Gregory nodded.

"What happened?"

I sighed and suddenly found my hands more interesting than Gregory.

"Well… you know…" I bit my lip, trying to think of the words I could best use. "Have you ever loved someone, so much that you're willing to do anything for them?"

Gregory's eyes grew a bit dark and he looked down.

"I did, but she had beaten me to it."

I stopped as his words started to sink in. As the dim light in his eyes faded, he stood up and turned away from me. All of the earlier signs of hospitality instantly left as he closed himself up.

"I think you need to go back to bed."

A/N: Hello everyone! I have made a realization. This might be one of my longest stories out of them all! We've reached Chapter 10, and yet we haven't even the slightest idea what's going on! :D YEAH! But if you don't like the length, I'm terribly sorry! But it is necessary for this is one of the most well-thought out stories I've written. Whoo! As for those who've been asking about my try-outs, I'm afraid it was a great big catastrophe. I've been practicing the wrong music for six weeks! :O And of course, I had sight read and didn't make it. They also gave us ridiculous scales… OH WELL! It's better to not live in the past and look to the future. Yeah. So, this chapter didn't go where I thought it would go in actuality. Had no idea that this was going to happen, but yeah! I like twists, and you get to see that Gregory isn't such a hard case everyone sees him to be. So do enjoy!

Love,

Jazzy!


	11. Gone

Day 5

Babylon Hotel- the Girl's bedroom

9:22 A.M.

Naru sat across from me on the desk chair. I could tell he was agitated because he was already rubbing his temples, thinking hard about everything I just spilled to him.

"Mai, I get occupied for over a couple of hours, and you just happen to find ways to get in trouble purposefully."

I frowned and crossed my arms.

"No way! It was going after Madoka, not me! I'm not a victim this time!" I spat back.

A look appeared on Naru's face and I recognized the look. I shook my head slowly.

"No, I know what you're thinking."

Raising his eyebrows, Naru crossed his arms and studied me curiously.

"Oh really? And what is it that I'm thinking Mai?"

I pointed an accusing finger at him.

"That you are gonna pull me, aren't you? Well you're not!"

His handsome face cracked a smirk and then a tiny smile.

"You've been paranoid. It's stupid to pull you off a case when you're the reason we're investigating, Mai."

Defeated, I let my hand drop on the bed I was sitting on and let out a disappointed sigh.

"I thought I was going somewhere with that."

Naru's face softened and he stood to joined me on the bed.

"There's something else on your mind, Mai."

I scowled at him and scooted back to make room for him. The bed sank a little as he sat down next to me.

"How do you know?"

He shrugged.

"I just do Mai. What's wrong?"

"When I talked to Gregory early this morning, he said something that made me start to think."

"What did he say?"

"Has anyone ever been hurt or killed on Gregory's team before?"

Naru grew stiff next to me and gave me an intense stare.

"What all did he tell you?"

I frowned and shifted under his look.

"Nothing. He told me to go to bed before he would give me the story. And he never did."

Naru sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"A long time ago, Gregory was on a team. Fresh out of college, and was already recruited with his best friend, Elizabeth Anderson. They worked together and got really close. They were in love. But the case their team had been working on was dangerous. Details are sketchy because no one but Gregory really knows what happened, but Elizabeth ended up getting killed in the end saving Gregory."

I found the floor caught my attention as I let the short explanation sink in. I felt something touch my hand and found that it was Naru holding it. His blue eyes were dark and clouded, which made me begin to worry.

"What?" I asked concerned.

He let out a short sigh.

"It's nothing Mai. All I know is this: the sooner we get done with this case, the sooner we can be back at the office."

"You miss the office?"

He shrugged.

"Only the days that is quiet."

I smiled.

"There are hardly any days that the office is quiet."

He smirked.

"The only days that the office is quiet, is when you're off making tea for me." He teased.

I scowled and punched him in the arm.

"That is not funny!"

He smirked and stood up.

"Let's get to work Mai. We really need to get out of here before someone goes crazy or gets hurt."

He offered a hand out to me and I accepted his help getting off my bed. I slipped my shoes on and held his hand as we left the room to the head quarters in absolute silence. As soon as we reached to door, he dropped my hand and we both entered the base silently. Everyone was sitting around silently, looking over their files and they all seemed a little depressed. Naru led me to the conference table where his father and mother were sitting and silently conversing. Both of them ended the conversation and looked up at Naru. Luella gave Martin a look of worry.

"What happened?" Naru asked.

"Gregory would like to run some tests on Mai." Martin answered. "It's nothing huge or dangerous; he's just doing the same test you distributed to Mai a while back. And after the tests, she will no longer be working with you or Madoka as a partner. She'll be working with Gregory."

I frowned and crossed my arms as I looked back and forth between the trio of Davis'.

"Great. Now I'm stuck with a bossy cranky old man." I muttered.

"Excuse me?" I jumped at the baritone voice behind me and instantly turned around, getting ready to mutter an apology. Instead, I met with Takigawa who was giving me a stern look. He put his hands on his hips and deepened the confused look. "I sincerely hope that you weren't referring to me as being 'bossy', 'cranky' and 'old'."

I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Nope. Not you."

"But you are old." Ayako confirmed as she appeared next to Bou's side.

The monk glared at her and opened his mouth with a reply, but was cut off when Gregory walked into the room. Behind him, Brent and Haden were holding a machine that reminded me of the one back in Naru's office. But this one was on a much larger scale than the one back at home was. He pointed at the conference table and the guys obliged, making their way to the table the best they could under all that weight. It was set down on the table next to Martin. Martin studied the machine and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"_Uhm, I don't mean to question you Gregory, but isn't that a little bit big?"_

Gregory nodded his head and crossed his arms.

"_That it is old chap. But I figured Mai wouldn't mind. It still has all of the same concepts, regardless of the size though. She might even have a better chance."_

Lin was the first one to speak.

"_I have the results of her first test. I don't think anything is going to change."_

'_Oh just you wait. Things will change.'_

The voice I heard was familiar and I smiled inwardly.

'_Gene, it's good to hear from you again. Why have you been so silent?'_

'_I've just been hanging about; see what everyone was up to. Watching as usual. You're gonna fail this test, I promise you!'_

"Mai?" I jumped as I now noticed that all eyes were on me. It was Luella who brought me out of my conversation.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I was just dazing off. That's all. What was the question?"

"Are you okay with this test?" Luella asked me again.

"Oh! I'm completely fine with it. I mean, the sooner we answer Gregory's questions, the better, right?"

Madoka shot me an encouraging smile.

"That's the way to think! Let's get it started!"

1:23 P.M.

I leaned back in my chair, silently defeated by the machine. I lost count of how many times we ran through the test and if I heard another idea about running the test again, I fear that I would go mad.

"_I think you've gathered enough data, Gregory." _Martin spoke up first.

He made a face and looked down at the clipboard full of the results from today's test. He scratched the back of his head and shook it.

"_It just doesn't add…" _He mumbled to himself then looked up, as if remembering we were there. _"Ah! Yes you are done with the tests today. I'll give the data over to Brent and you and I shall begin our patrol."_

I let out a quick sigh and willed myself up out of the chair.

"If I must…" I mumbled and grabbed my clipboard. As Naru grabbed a hold of my wrist, his dark orbs bore into mine.

"Be safe Mai."

"_Mai? Let's go." _I turned to see Gregory already ready to get the show on the road. Nodding my head, I was released from Naru's grip and turned to follow my new partner. I put on a head set as Gregory held the door open for me, then we were both soon on our patrol.

We walked in silence for a long time, only checking the temperatures in the safer spots. The only words we shared were commands, but not even heavy ones. He worked in silence, and didn't even bother looking at me.

So it was a surprise to me when he stopped in the middle of the hallway. I bumped into his back and instantly apologized.

"Don't Mai."

"Huh?"

As the British man turned around to face me, I could tell there was something off about him. His eyes were dark and his face was pale.

"You deserve to know about my wife, Mai."

I took a step back, unsure of what was going on.

"What do you mean?"

Gregory sighed and rubbed his temples. He seemed…pressured?...depressed? I couldn't decide.

"We were both newlyweds, working on a case that was similar to this, but the spirit was one of a Hun. We were in the middle of a cleansing when the spirit attacked the two of us." He stopped and looked out of a window to collect himself. I could see the glints of tears forming and sympathy instantly struck me. "She threw herself in front of me as the spirit made a grab for me, and instead of ripping me up, it killed her and tore her into pieces."

"Gregory I-"

His eyes lit up as he stopped my sympathy.

"No. Don't start with me. I know what it's like to lose someone you love, Mai. But you nor should anyone have to go through something like that."

"What are you getting at here?"

Gregory stopped and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I-It had to come out. I lost my mind the day I lost her."

And then, the hall was suddenly chill, and I could feel the temperature drop. I glanced over to Gregory who was frozen solid, his eyes fixed at one spot.

At the end of the hall way, a woman stood in a white dress. I rushed forward with a warding spell at the ready, but I was thrown back against the wall and something held me there. The woman approached Gregory, and took his hand. Gregory didn't act, as if he was enchanted by her and moved with her as she led him to the wall opposite of us. She glanced over her shoulder and I could see a tiny smirk before she stepped through the wall, taking Gregory with her.

As quickly as she had appeared, she left, along with whatever held me to the wall. I fell to floor, and quickly pressed a button on the headset.

"Gregory's been taken!"

A/N: Hello all! I'm sorry for the late update! Internet's been a bit wonky. But here's an update none the less! I hope you all enjoy it as I did and I'm sorry for leaving you all with a cliffy. I hate it when other authors do it, but It must be done! We shall be getting to the end soon, I'm sure of it, but I still have much to do! Not enough time to do it, of course, but still, one must continue! Please drop in a line and say hello! I haven't heard from some of you in a while, and I hope you haven't lost interest!

Love,

Jazzy


	12. Looking for a Lead

Day 5

Babylon Hotel- meeting room

8:23 P.M.

A mug full of tea was sat down in front of me. I looked at it wearily and sighed as I brought my knees closer to my chest. The conference room was empty and quiet, except for the hum of the equipment and only Naru and I were the first to return of the search party. No one was having any luck.

Naru sat down in front of me on one of the uncomfortable chairs and grabbed my hand. He reached up and put his hand against my face. I leaned into it before he brought my face up to look into his. His dark eyes were so deep and mysterious; I couldn't help but get lost in them.

"It's not your fault, Mai. We will find him."

I bit my bottom lip and tried to urge myself to not cry.

"I don't know what happened, but I feel like I could have done more."

"You couldn't Mai. She trapped you."

I fell silent as I was thinking of our last conversation. Then an idea hit me.

"She's only taking men, Naru. She must be looking for her husband."

His eyes flashed.

"So why didn't we see it?"

I was silent as I searched for the right answer.

"Because we were so intense and set on finding out more about me that we weren't all really focused on the case?" I offered. He silently cursed and stood up quickly. He grabbed a folder and flipped it open in front of me.

"Read this and tell me who disappeared after the wife mess."

I glanced through and sighed as he read his emails. I could only assume he was looking for something he missed.

"They're all guys. The age limit is varying though. I mean, if it was her husband that she lost, then wouldn't she stick with one age limit?"

The door opened up to reveal the rest of the search team returning with no luck. Everyone seemed a bit grim.

"_Still no luck. In finding Gregory." _Ayako sighed and sat down next to me. She cocked an eyebrow and looked at the open file. "What are you doing?"

"We think we caught a lead somewhere."I answered.

Luella's eyebrows shot up, suddenly intrigued. _"Really? What is it?"_

"_I'm sorry, can you translate what she just said? We still don't get what you people are saying." _Brent broke in.

It was Martin who answered him.

"_They think they've found a lead on the spirit. What did you guys find?"_

"_The victims." _Naru broke in. _"There's only two sets of age groups that have disappeared."_

"_What about the boy? He died only days before the fiancé and her beau did. Why would he still be here?" _Brent asked as he slipped onto his computer. Haden took a seat next to his coworker and ran a hand through his hair. I think out of the two, Haden was taking it worse. I could tell he hadn't been sleeping at all. I felt bad for him. Monk sat down on the other side of Ayako and sighed.

"Translation?"

I sighed and started to explain to him what was going on while I tried to tune into what the others were saying.

"_We need to do more research. Let's drop all that observing crap. It was getting in our way, and now we've been attacked as a group." _Haden spoke. _"I'm going to head into town, look through the local archives. I would be happy if someone came along with me." _He stood up and grabbed his jacket and waited for someone to volunteer.

"_At this time of the night?" _I asked, amazed that something like a library would be open so late.

Haden gave me a small smile.

"_I know the right people."_

"_I'd be happy to go with you." _Madoka took the chance. _"I can also get in touch with our contact back home and ask him to dig up some information." _She stood up and grabbed her coat as she left.

"_What else can we do?" _I felt helpless, again.

Brent turned to me and sighed.

"_The only thing we can do now is try to figure out what she wants."_

_He smiled as he watched the lying corpse in the haystack. That was one loose end tied. Now to deal with Landon…_

"_Humphrey?" _

_The timid voice made the younger man freeze. He was suddenly grateful the murder weapon was lying next to the child. He turned around quickly to face the young bride-to-be. Her beauty caught him by surprise, though he should have been used to it. The blue gown she wore definitely helped highlight her curly blonde hair and her blue eyes shone with curiosity. He was quick to answer her._

"_Mary! Please do not come closer! This child has been murdered and I do not want you to see him."_

_The blue eyes began to water as his words sunk in._

"_Humphrey, did you kill this boy?" She asked through her broken voice. _

_He saw that she struggled hard to be strong, but it wasn't natural to her. She was supposed to be soft, timid and scared. His anger flared up however._

"_I did this for us! He knew!"_

_Tears reached their peak and began to fall relentlessly as her body shook with a sob._

"_Dear God."_

_And like that, she turned on him and rushed out of the stables. He knew what he had to do, and the bitter thoughts filled his mind as he clenched his fist until it was white. Betrayal was unacceptable._

"_LANDON!"_

_She was the next one to go._

2:05 A.M

Day 6

Babylon Hotel- Girls' Room

I slowly sat up from my bed and rubbed my eyes groggily. What just happened? It was like I had been struck down with memories. But who's?

I slipped out of my bed and stretched as my mind wandered.

Then it hit me. I knew whose memories they were. It was Humphrey Winfield, the best man for the wedding. William Darby's best friend.

'_But why? I know the answer is right in front of me.'_

I bit my bottom lip and groaned. Now I'm feeling more and more like Naru. I heard rustling from the bed next to mine. I turned, a little shocked and saw that Ayako was just now coming to.

"What's going on Mai?" Her voice cracked and sounded groggy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I turned around to give her a smile and noticed Madoka's bed was empty. "Did Madoka not come back?"

Ayako shrugged.

"She showed up, dropped her coat off, then went back to the base with Haden and Lin. I think they found something."

"Wanna check it out?

Ayako grinned a little.

"Yeah, let's change into something decent, shall we?"

But we were interrupted from our changing session when there was a silent knock on the door. I looked to Ayako confused but she gave me an irritated look.

"Go answer it!"

I did as I was told and answered the door to Lin.

"Mai, we've caught on a lead."

"what do you mean?"

"A journal. When the woman at the library knew what Madoka and Hayden were looking for, she gave them a journal she had found in the attic. It belonged to Marry and her confessions."

A/N: Oh my goodness… I have realized that I've forgotten to do something that is extremely sacred to me! I didn't do my shout outs! OH NOES! I will make it up! Just at the end anyways, there's way too many of you guys to thank. But for the dwindling reviewers that I do have left, thank you for sticking it out with me. I know there's a lot of you guys who are reading and not reviewing, I know I've been doing it, so it's the thought that you read my story is what keeps me going! I'm ready to wrap it up, but I promise I won't try to rush it. I swear. So do enjoy! I love reading feedback though!

Love,

Jazzy


	13. Hope Found

Day 6

Babylon hotel- Base

8:37 A.M.

"I can't believe it." I moaned and leaned back in my chair with the cup of hot tea.

"Best believe it Mai, because it's right there in front of you." Bou grumbled and leaned back in the couch as well.

"_It really blows my mind that after all these years, this journal just so happens to show up." _Brent grumbled.

It was way too early in the morning for anyone to even care.

"_So now you're questioning whether it's reliable or not, aren't you?" _Martin asked wearily as he leaned against the table next to the computer. Lin and Hayden were sitting next to each other, both analyzing thejournal and making notes.

"Patience." Naru reminded me smoothly.

I frowned and glared up at him.

"I just want to find Gregory, get rid of this spirit mad house, and be gone, Naru. Patience isn't on my list, especially at this time of the morning."

I felt him glare harder at me, but he averted his attention to Lin.

"Any clues as to finding Gregory?" He asked the tall man.

"_She mentions a lot about a garden. It's where she first met Landon. It's also where she first committed adultery with Humphrey. And of course, ironically, where Landon proposed to her."_

"_Of course it would be somewhere that was memorable to her. Anything about the deaths of the guys?"_ Luella asked.

Hayden shook his head.

"_Nope. Non at all. She was killed first. But she knew something bad was going to happen. She already had plans to split before the wedding even happened."_

"_So why didn't she? She would be alive if she had left." _Naru asked.

The two men were silent as they glanced through the pages.

"_She says her dad caught her running out. She didn't tell him what happened between Landon and Humphrey; she was afraid to. And she was afraid to tell him the truth. So he made her go through with the wedding."_

"_Why?" _I asked.

Hayden looked down at his notes and scrolled through.

"_Tough relationship between each other. Never saw eye to eye and she was scared of him. But most people were anyways. I mean, a man of power was something to be afraid of back in the day. He controlled his daughter's life."_

"_I have a theory, if that helps at all." _Madoka broke in.

All eyes turned to her and Monk was quick to ask me to translate for him.

"_Mai says she saw Humphrey kill the kid, and it was confirmed in the dream, yes?"_

We all nodded to the question and anticipating her next words.

"_She went to Landon. Told him everything about her and Humphrey. Landon was mad, but he didn't kill her. Humphrey was a different story, I'm betting."_

I quickly caught on to where she was getting at.

"_On the wedding day, Humphrey killed her. He was jealous, angry and felt betrayed, right?" _I looked to the others for confirmation.

"_Correct. So when Landon found out that his best friend was not only having an affair with his future wife, and killed her, he got angry, and killed Humphrey." _Madoka added in.

"_And ridden with grief and anger and hurt, Landon killed himself?" _Luella asked.

Monk looked at me helplessly then to Ayako.

"What are they saying? I don't get it!" He sighed.

Ayako turned to him angrily and whooped him on the side of the head.

"Shut it! I'm trying to listen too!"

"_So why is she taking the men?" _Martin asked.

"_She must be looking for her love, Landon." _Brent finished.

Madoka sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"What's wrong?" Monk asked.

Madoka groaned and stood up.

"A bit of messed up love. Let's get this figured out." Martin answered quickly.

"I don't get it." Monk looked to me for help.

I shivered and glanced around the snow covered courtyard. Everyone was getting in place.

"They're going to try to summon out Mary." Naru answered bleakly.

"What?" Ayako nearly shouted in my ear. I flinched away and stepped closer to Naru.

"We're going to perform a cleansing on Mary in hopes that she'll release Gregory." Naru answered.

"And how are we going to summon Mary out? We're not really set up for a séance."

"That's easy. Mary appeared when Gregory was telling me about his love life. We believe that she had felt the strength of his love, and it summoned her. Dr. Davis is going to be reading poetry to his wife."

"Really? Think that'll summon her?" Monk asked surprised.

Madoka flashed him a smile.

"It's a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. If this one doesn't work, I don't know what will."

"Is everything in place?" Naru asked and stared down our small group.

I knew he hated the thought of putting his father at risk, but out of the group, Martin was the only married one. And he was quick to volunteer. I knew he was up to something. I glanced over at Madoka and scooted closer to her to talk in low whispers.

"What is Martin thinking?" I asked.

"That if he does get captured, Naru will turn the place upside down to find him and Gregory."

"But that's risky on Naru's health, is it not?"

Madoka let out a sigh.

"And there lies the problem Mai." I glanced over her shoulder and noted that Naru was watching us the entire time.

"We better split before he thinks something is up." I whispered.

Madoka grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"Mai, don't tell him."

I nodded my head and smiled at her, though it felt wrong.

"I promise."

I glanced back into the court yard and saw that Martin held a book in his hand. He wore reading glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat and grabbed the hand of his wife. I could tell he was nervous, but he pressed on.

"_It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea that a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee,"_

I glanced at the thermometer and sighed in relief. The temperature was still normal for now.  
_"And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me."_ There was a brief pause again as Martin squeezed Luella's hand again. I smiled as I watched the scene before me. They were meant for each other. Martin cleared his throat again and spoke in a louder voice.

"_I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea; but we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee." _

Then my thermometer started to bleep at me. I glanced down and stifled a gasp. Naru was next to me in an instant, glancing over my shoulder. The temperature was dropping fast.

"She's coming." I whisper, barely audible.  
_"With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, in this kingdom by the sea, a wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabel Lee."_

And then the wind picked up. Naru glanced up to where his father was standing with the book still in his hand, and his voice as strong as ever as he tried to talk over the winds. He was not fazed by the whirlwind about him, and his voice didn't even show a hint of fear. Luella, however, grabbed onto her husband's hand tightly and refused to let go.

"_She's near!" _Hayden yelled across the court yard.

And not long after, a shape began to slowly appear behind Martin. He held tighter onto Luella as he read on. _"But our love was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we of many far wiser than we and neither the angels in heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea, can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee."_ Martin stopped the poem right where he was and the wind died down suddenly. She was gruesome looking. Flesh peeled away from her once beautiful face, hair was awry and her dress was falling apart. There was nothing pleasant about the bride. Martin shot me a glance and I took my stand.

"_Mary! Please listen to me!"_ I called out to her.

The bride turned quickly to me, suddenly interested as she floated near me.

"_You were with my last victim."_ She stated in a scratchy, hissing voice.

"_Yes, I was. Please listen to me though. We know what happened with Humphrey and Landon." _She hissed as I brought the names of her two lovers up again. _"Both of them are gone, Mary. Dead."_

She glanced around, now noticing the rest of the team and her eyes lingered on Martin.

"_I know what you want. You want love, Mary. But those men you have stolen, they will not love you. Not the way Landon did."_

"_Landon use to read to me. He read poems to me."_

I could trace the agony in her voice and felt sympathy for her.

"_You will find love if you let go now."_

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update. My teachers have loaded me down with homework over the weekend and snow break. Icky. And to top it off, I got kicked in the face at Tae Kwon Do practice. So now I have a huge bruise on one side of my face. Ergghhhh…. Anywho, this was a fun chapter, and I tried to slow it down, but I can't promise anything. Yes, I did leave it as a cliffie, and I know how much you hate that, but I had no choice. It was best this way to split the chapters up like it. So do enjoy my dears! Thank you to the last five reviewers that stuck around with me for the past few chapters! :D I appreciate your kind words!

Love,

Jazzy


	14. A Happy Ending!

The beeping of the heart monitor was the hardest to ignore out of the entire hospital room. Not to mention all the white and dull decorations that came with hospitals. I couldn't imagine being here for a long time. I believe the only salvation in the entire room besides the good company was the TV, but then, there are not that many things to watch. Not even if you have work you want to avoid.

I sighed and fidgeted impatiently again as the heart monitor beeped no stop. But I guess it was good. I mean, the steady beeps meant that a great recovery was up ahead. The binder in my hand reminded me of the massive paper work ahead, even though I was spending my days in the hospital.

I crossed my legs and tried to get comfortable in the waiting chair when I heard a groan. I looked up and saw the body in the bed move. I suppressed a grin and stood up.

"Gregory?"

There was another groan as the older man tried to open his eyes.

"M-Mai? W-what are you doing here?" He asked softly as he looked around the room. "I'm in a hospital?"

I nodded my head and scooted my chair closer to him.

"Yes sir. We managed to save you and another survivor. However, he was far off worse than you."

He looked around the room, still confused as to what happened.

"You guys solved the case?"

I nodded my head again.

"Yeah, we found Mary. I managed to talk her into passing on. There was a brilliant light as she moved on, and you and the other guy were left behind, hurt and cold. All the spirits actually left when she did too. It was relief too. How are you feeling?" I babbled on and reached for his hospital cup to help him drink out of the straw.

"I feel like I've been hit by a train. How are you?"

His question took me by surprise as I sat back down in my chair.

"I'm fine. Relieved to be more exact. I thought something bad was going to happen to you."

His smile was a bit gentle as he looked away.

"Thank Mai."

I gave him a small smile. "No problem. We found the other missing person by the way."

"How is he doing?"

I bit my bottom lip and looked for words.

"Alive."

Gregory was silent and looked away for a second.

"That bad huh?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah. If we hadn't found him when we did, he probably wouldn't have pulled through. His sister was relieved beyond belief though. Found out that he's the only family left for her too."

We both fell silent and I fidgeted a little.

"What's the diagnosis?"

I shrugged.

"You just mainly got the crap beaten out of you. I don't know what she did to you, but you got thrown around a lot like you were a rag doll or something. Nothing is broken or cracked. You have a slight concussion, but you'll be up on your feet in a couple of hours."

He grunted and nodded.

"You did good Mai. I'll try to get the heat off your back."

"Thanks a lot. I had fun working with you."

"Me too. Good job out there, you did the right thing."

He held his hand out, and I shook it gently. When my hand was released, I realized what I was supposed to be doing.

" Oh!" I jumped up from my chair. "I'll go get the others from the waiting room and a doctor."

I rushed out of the room to go search for someone to help. I found Brent and Hayden. They glanced up from their laptops, slightly surprised.

"_He's up! Come on!"_

I sat down next to Naru in the living room and stretched out on the couch. He gave me a small smile and let me scoot into him. He draped an arm around my shoulder.

"Case closed." I sighed.

"Yep. And the jurisdiction will be announced as soon as mom and dad get home and they can get a statement from Gregory."

"Then I'll be free to go home?" A smirk. I felt a frown tug on my lips. "What is that look for?"

"You've fallen behind on your filing. There's a ton of paperwork that needs to be sorted through. Not to mention all the things you'll need to sign and to catch up with your online courses."

Groaning, I leaned up against his arm and sighed.

"Well crap. And here I thought I could get away."

"At least the Monk and the Miko left earlier to help get the office in some kind of order."

"Thank you God!" I praised and giggled.

He smiled and brushed a piece of hair away from my face. I felt a blush creeping on, but we were disrupted by the ringing from his phone. He was quick to get off the couch and stand by the warm fireplace. Biting my bottom lip, I found the fringe on the pillows suddenly mesmerizing as I ignored the phone conversation. I hadn't even realized Naru ended his conversation until he grabbed my hand.

"Mai? Did you hear me?"

I looked up, suddenly aware of his presence.

"I'm sorry, I dazed off. What did you say?"

"They've cleared you Mai."

It was my turn to smirk and cross my arms.

"What?" Naru asked as he bent over me, not leaving a lot of space between us.

I knew his tricks, but I couldn't help but fall for one every now and then.

"I knew I'd be cleared."

He brushed another strand of hair off my face, but this time, his hand lingered before he closed in the space between us. When we pulled apart, there was a familiar mischievous glint in Naru's eyes.

"What?"

A smirk found its way on his handsome face.

"Nothing, Mai. Nothing at all. Let's get ready to head back."

I pouted and looked up pleadingly to Naru.

"Why? I want to stay around for a few more days."

Naru bent back down in front of me.

"If we leave soon, we don't have to make an appearance at the Charity Ball. We can donate money and leave before Mom and Dad knew it."

The word ball made my heart sink and my stomach felt a little endless.

"So when is the next plane?"

Naru shrugged and helped me off the couch and pulled me into a tight hug.

"You know, that case really sucked?" I asked.

"I know. But at least we solved it."

He let out a sigh and breathed into my hair. I smiled and squirmed in his hug.

"Let's go home." I muttered into his chest.

A/N: HELLO EVERYBODY! Yes, this is the last chapter. I wanted to end it differently, but I decided not to. Lee talked me out of it, but it was SO HARD! Yes, this chapter is short, and I apologize for that, but it is the end. I decided to approach it in a different way than I thought I would, and I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did! Anyways, I don't know when the next installment is coming out, but be ready! I'll put even more thought into! So! Because this is the VERY last chapter, there are some people who know what this means! SHOUT OUTS! Yeah! *applause* so I would love to send a special thanks to:

Thearistocrat! (I sympathize with you, I'm a senior as well! Too much stress), Ayjah (who has been there ALWAYS), melodyann75, tohru78, krissy2lip, PauleenAnn, dayis, xSapphirexRosesxFanx, Eru no Tsubasa, Sakura Ichigo Morhiko, missyangel87, FallenRaindrops, Funhause64, HandsomeAngel, seiyuurabu. Cross-Pixie-KiKi, IceFire Dragon Alchemist73, ClippedNinja (you, I haven't heard from in a while, MESSAGE ME PLEASE!), twilightangel61090, restivesilence, sweetymai90, TheAnonymousTraitor (love that name!), Crimson Yume, Aktaiy, reishilovesyaoi, melovepickles16, Jadeturtle, TuTsXxX, HunnyBunnyChan,Vivian101, starkitty (thanks for the tips!), Flamegirl5500 and finally, Tsukiyomi Macey!

And of course everyone who has added me as a favorite or my story! I really appreciate all the support! It means a TON to me! I love you all!

Until next time,

Jazzy!


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